Cool, Calm, and Collected

Reverend Debbie Cato
Mark 4:35-41
Fairfield Community Church
June 23 2024 

Let us pray:  Holy, Holy God. We pray that our time of worship this morning will transform our lives so that we can be all that you have called us to be.  O God, by your Spirit tell us what we need to hear this morning, and show us what we ought to do, to obey Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.

 

Cool, Calm & Collected!

 

 

As we continue our journey through Mark’s Gospel this week, we find Jesus and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee.  We don’t really know why.  We don’t know if Jesus has a particular destination in mind.   We are only told that when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”   And so, they leave the crowds behind that had gathered to hear Jesus teach, they get into a boat, and they begin to cross the Sea of Galilee.

 

The Sea of Galilee is actually a fresh water lake – the largest freshwater lake in Israel - surrounded on all sides by mountains. It is the lowest freshwater lake on earth at nearly 700 feet below sea level.  And because of the geography of the lake, it is prone to sudden and violent wind gusts that churn water into giant waves with very little notice. 

 

I’ve spent a lot of time on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and I’ve seen how vicious the ocean waves can get during a storm.  I’ve watched as the waves toss a fishing boat about as if it were nothing more than a toy.  It’s incredible how quickly the waves can pick up speed and power.   Maybe we can all imagine being on a boat – in the middle of a large lake surrounded by mountains when a violent storm suddenly strikes.

 

 

The disciples—some of them anyway—were fishermen who made their living on this lake.  They knew the risks of these treacherous waters.  The

story we are reading is realistic.  Even if we have never been in a boat, we can feel the disciples’ terror. I imagine the wind was howling and the water was making a loud slapping noise on the wood of the boat.  Mark 4: 37 tells us that “the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped.”  The boat was filling with water.  It was tossing and turning on the top of the waves.  In all probability, the boat was going to capsize. The disciples would have had to shout at one another to be heard over the roar of the waves and the wind; frantic to gain control of the boat.  Can you sense the chaos; the fear?

 

Most of us know how life can turn from sunny to stormy in the blink of an eye.  Life is going along as planned and then suddenly, we are out of control; overwhelmed.  Perhaps, we can feel the disciple’s frustration, even anger, when they look over and see that Jesus is sound asleep.  Asleep in the midst of the storm; the chaos.  You could say he’s cool, calm, and collected.  He’s sound asleep.

 

“Teacher, do you not care if we perish?”

 

“Do you not care if we perish?”    We thought you cared about us.  We thought you loved us.  We thought we were your friends.  We’ve been watching you do miracles; heal people; drive out demons.  We are about to die, and you sleep?  Don’t you care?

 

Their cry echoes the heartbreaking desperation of all those prayers we pray

for ourselves and for those we love; prayers that seem to bounce back from the ceiling; or from some infinite, empty space out there.  It is in this

passage that we hear echoed our own skepticism when we plead earnestly to heaven but later say “he must have been asleep in the boat.”

 

Fear. It’s a terrible thing.  The primitive response of Jesus’ terrified disciples in a frail storm-tossed boat resonates in our individual lives as Christians, in our corporate life together as a congregation and in our life together as a community in Fairfield, Washington.  We are afraid of the “wind and waves” that attack our fragile vessels – our lives, our churches, our cities, our nation.  We fear disapproval, rejection, failure, meaning-lessness, illness, and of course, we fear death – our own death, the death of those we love, and the potential demise of the communities we cherish – including our church.[1]

 

Fear is confronted in this story in Mark; but not by a sudden burst of courage or resolve on the part of the disciples.  In the course of the storm, they never pull themselves together.  They do not, at least not on their own, discover an inner resource they did not know they had.  Rather, it is Jesus who calms both them and the storm with the power of his presence. 

 

When they wake up Jesus, he responds immediately.  He speaks 3 small words; 3 small words:  “Peace!  Be still!” and there is a great calm.  A great calm. “The wind died down and it was completely calm.”    Imagine the stillness, the quiet, compared to the noise and the chaos of the storm.  Peace!  Be still!

 

Notice that Jesus never says, “There is nothing to be afraid of.”  The storm on the Sea of Galilee was undoubtedly something to be very afraid of; it was  deadly.  So are the “wind and waves” that threaten us.  Jesus asks, “Why are you afraid?  Have you no faith?” 

 

A small child wakes up in the dark of the night, terrified at some dream that has disturbed their sleep; terrified of some monster hiding in the bedroom closet.  Her mother rushes into the bedroom and scoops the little child into her arms and sits in a chair.  She wipes the sweaty hair off her child’s forehead, caresses his head, rocks him gently, and then she whispers what a thousand mothers have whispered since the beginning of time, “Hush now, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

 

The truth is, there is a lot to be afraid of.  Isolation, pain, illness, meaninglessness, rejection, losing one’s job, money problems, failure, war, violence, and death - they are all very real.  As we grow in faith, we come to understand that even though fearsome things are very real, they do not have the last word.  They do not have ultimate power over us, because reigning over this world of fearsome things is a God who is mightier than they.  Time and again in Scripture the word is, “Do not be afraid.”    It is the word the angels speak to the terrified shepherds and the word spoken at the tomb when the women discover it empty: “Do not be afraid.”  Not because there are no storms, no fierce winds or waves, but rather, because God is with us. 

 

Instead of saying, “There’s nothing to be afraid of,” the whole truth would be for the mother comforting her frightened child to say, “Don’t be afraid, because you are not alone.”  The easy part of the truth, which every child figures out sooner or later, is that some things that frighten us are real and some are not.  But the rest of the truth; the deeper truth that only faith in the God who raised Jesus Christ from the grave can teach, is that even though there are real and fearsome things in his life, they do not need to paralyze us. They need not have control over us; they need not own us; because we are not alone in the boat.   Jesus is with us.[2]

 

The disciples were stunned when Jesus spoke those 3 simple words and the wind and the waves immediately obeyed and the chaos of the storm ended just as suddenly as it had begun.  “Who is this man, that even the wind and the waves obey him?”  they asked one another.  It wasn’t a question so much as an exclamation of awe and wonder.  Jesus even had control over the forces of nature.

By telling us this story, Mark wants to make sure we know “who this man is” and how he shows how much God cares.  Not only is Jesus God in the flesh; He is also our fellow traveler.  He is in the boat with us.  According to the story, it is by Jesus’ invitation that we are even in the boat.

 

“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  The disciples yell in overwhelming fear.  And the answer is yes, Jesus does care. He is with us.   He is there in the boat; bearing the same scars and marks of the journey that we bear.  And in the midst of the most chaotic storms of life, he says to us, “Peace. Be Still.”  Amen.

 

 

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[1] Feasting on the Word:  Year B, Volume 3.  Pastoral Perspective.  Michael L. Lindvall.  P164.
[2] Feasting on the Word:  Year B, Volume 3.  Pastoral Perspective.  Michael L. Lindvall.  P164.

 

Let God Do the Work

Reverend Debbie Cato
Mark 4:26-32
Fairfield Community Church
June 16,2-24

Let us pray:  Holy, Holy God. We pray that our time of worship this morning will transform our lives so that we can be all that you have called us to be.  O God, by your Spirit tell us what we need to hear this morning, and show us what we ought to do, to obey Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

  

Let God Do the Work

 

 

 

Mark's gospel tells us that Jesus chose to speak in parables. Some people find parables annoying. Why didn't Jesus come right out and say what he meant? Why did he leave behind all these cryptic sayings, loaded with innuendo, instead of a crisp code of laws or a stack of essays with titles like "How to Be a Good Disciple," or "A Brief Definition of the Kingdom of God" or "Seven Key Features of the Coming Kingdom and What This Means to You."   Checklists of things we need to know and things we need to do.  Or, maybe brochures that we could study and memorize with pictures that make them more interesting.  That way, we would know for sure what Jesus expected a good follower to look like or what in the world the Kingdom of God really means.  That would be helpful, wouldn’t it?

 

If you think Jesus would have gotten his points across better with hard and fast rules, try remembering the last time you sat down and really enjoyed reading Leviticus or the first few chapters of Numbers! 

 

I think God figured they tried that once and it hadn’t worked very well!  So, instead of how-to-manuals or a list of rules, we have collections of parables that are often confusing, hard-to-understand stories that Jesus told to his disciples and the crowds of people who gathered to hear him teach.  Jesus used things that were familiar to the people he was teaching; things from their culture – like farming and fishing, to teach them about the not so familiar Kingdom of God. 

 

Today we have two parables about seeds.  The first parable compares God’s kingdom to a feature of planting that is familiar to any gardener or farmer.  The gardener can put the seeds in the ground but cannot really do anything about them growing.  In fact, the gardener has so little to do with making the seeds grow that in the parable, the gardener sleeps through the process of sprouting and maturation.  It doesn’t matter.  The seeds sprout and grow anyway.[1] 

 

Now, just in case we did not quite get the message, Jesus offers a second parable.  This time, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Even though the mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, it grows into a bush 10, sometimes 15 feet tall.[2]  In fact, the bush that grows from this tiny seed becomes so large and so lush that birds can make nests in its shade.  It’s amazing that something so tiny can become something so large that birds can find shelter from the hot sun in the strength of the branches.  (Here are mustard seeds and here’s a picture of a full grown mustard tree.)

 

You see, Jesus recognizes the importance of the imagination.  When you hear these parables, you can picture a garden or a field, can’t you?  Perhaps you can picture someone on their hands and knees, carefully planting seeds in the ground.  Can you imagine plants poking through the ground; squash ripening on the end of the end of the vines; tomatoes turning red in the hot sun, or pumpkins turning orange in the fall?  Perhaps you can see a mustard bush getting bigger and bigger as it reaches toward the sky. 

 

I’m a gardener.  Four years ago I lived in a mother-in-law apartment attached to my daughter’s house.  They had 4 large, raised beds that were waist high – perfect for my arthritic body. 

 

One year I was having foot surgery in May, and I was not going to be able to put weight on my foot for 2 months.  I had prepared the soil in the fall, and I did not want to go without a garden just because of my stupid foot!  So, before my surgery, I planted some extra strawberries plants, tomato starts, and I used seeds to plant bush peas, carrots, lettuce, and spinach.  I planted herb starts, and lots of flowers. I set up soaker hoses on a timer so everything would get watered.  Then I had foot surgery and for a month I couldn’t walk out to my garden.  No one was pulling weeds and fussing over the garden.  I couldn’t see what was happening.  I am a control freak, and this drove me crazy!!

 

Finally, after about a month, I was able to walk on my heel far enough to get

to the garden.  Honestly, I was amazed!  My garden was filling in and there were very few weeds after that month.  Pea bushes were shooting up and filling in.  My carrots were about an inch high.  Lettuce and spinach were growing.  Tomato plants had gotten taller and filled in and already had some flowers on them which would turn into tomatoes!  The strawberry plants had filled the planter and had flowers and even a couple of baby berries which my then 2 ½ year old granddaughter happily pointed out to me.  The flowers I planted were beautiful.  I had prepared the soil.  I planted the seeds and the starts.  But after that I had not done a thing. It was all happening without me.  Maybe all my fussing wasn’t necessary!  Maybe my garden had nothing to do with my superb gardening skills!

 

About 13 years ago, I served a church in Casper, Wyoming that was in a poor, underserved neighborhood.  There were no grocery stores in our neighborhood which made our community a food desert.  The church owned property next to our parking lot and it just sat vacant and was overgrown with weeds.  It was an eyesore.  After much discussion, and yes, a bit of begging on my part, we turned our empty lot into community gardens.  It was a lot of hard physical work.  We imagined a place where the neighbors could grow vegetables while having a place to build community and get to know one another. 

 

One Saturday, Henry, an elder and I were the last to leave after a day of work. It was after 6:00.  We were both exhausted.  We had just planted sod in front of the gardens where we had developed a park for people to sit and visit and for the children to play.  There were 3 families from the neighbor-hood, planting their garden plots.  They were laughing and talking to one another while they planted.  Henry and I stopped to talk with them.  I introduced myself to each of them, Mind you, I was filthy.  I was sweaty.  My hair was sticking out in all directions.  But I wanted them to know who I was and that I was so glad they were taking advantage of the community gardens.  They were planting tomatoes and peppers and corn and onionsand squash and cucumbers. “Thank you for doing this for our neighbor-hood!” they said. “We didn’t know each other before but now we are becoming friends,” they told me. I learned that one of families lived across the street; another just down the street; and the 3^rd lived on the next block.  “We are planting seeds,” I told the congregation the next morning.  “We don’t know what will grow, or how it will grow, or how big it will grow.  But we have prepared the soil.”

 

Jesus tells this parable to illustrate what the Kingdom of God is like—the scope of God’s peace and freedom and justice.  Despite the skepticism of many of Jesus’ enemies, He proclaims that God’s Kingdom has already become a reality through him.  Many looked around them and could not see any signs of His promised peace and freedom and justice and they rejected Jesus’ message.  In fact, some of them thought he was either crazy or demon-possessed, or maybe both! 

I think that’s why Jesus told them this parable.  He was reminding them that when it comes to understanding how God’s Kingdom works, we don’t get it.  We are clueless.  Just like the gardener who sleeps through the process of sprouting and growth and wakes up in time for the harvest.

 I think these parables are trying to tell us that it’s our job to keep persevering in the planting and tending of the gospel seeds of mercy and kindness and love.[3] I think all of this means that we must operate based on faith. We must keep on planting seeds even when we don’t see results.  We must recognize that we may never know what comes from the seeds we plant.  But because they are gospel seeds, they will bear fruit—in their own way and in their own time.  The harvest is God’s work.

 We must keep investing our lives in the church that seeks to bear witness to God’s realm of peace and freedom and justice.  It means our words and actions must come out of love and humbleness and mercy and not judgment or power or superiority.  It means we must have a spirit of listening and learning and not a spirit of “my way of thinking or knowing is the right way.”  It requires us to step out in faith and plant the seeds, trusting that even the smallest seeds will eventually bear fruit—even if we may not see it.  It means recognizing that we may not understand how the seeds we plant may grow but believing that we can trust that God is working in and through us constantly.

The growth of the church in the first century certainly confirmed the truth of Jesus' parable. Just like the mustard seed, which is small and insignificant, the first followers of Jesus are a bunch of ragged folks; full o doubts and fears, unable to comprehend much of what Jesus says or does. 

The reign of God bursting into history rests on them.  And yet look at what happens!   On the day of Pentecost, the 120 disciples grew to over 3,000 just on  continued to multiply.

 The little church in Casper, Wyoming that I told you about?  The community garden and park were an amazing success for the neighbor-hood.  But the Church didn’t want to change or grow.  They didn’t want “new people” in the congregation.  They chose to close their doors.  I closed the church.  You don’t learn how to do that in seminary.  It was heart-breaking. It’s not something you become a pastor to do. 

 And yet I knew in my heart that we serve a God of the Resurrection, and I was sure He was not finished with that Church.  The neighborhood needed that church.  The neighborhood was rich for mission.  The seeds were planted.  I prayed to understand God’s will.

That was 13 years ago.  The church doesn’t exist anymore.  At least not as a traditional church.  But the denomination saw the work that God started.  They trusted.  It took 2 years after the church closed but the Holy Spirit breathed life into the closed building. It’s called the Winter Memorial Community Center. Today, the church building is alive with activity.   There are non-profit offices in the church and classes and workshops and resources.  Community meetings are held there.  There is a daycare center, a regional food bank, and community meals.  The park has playground equipment now.  The number of community garden plots have been doubled!  The neighborhood is a safer place to live and there is a true sense of community.  I didn’t get to see the harvest.  But I was there when the seeds were planted.

You have all planted seeds.  Some large.  Some small.  You may not have seen the harvest.  You may have been broken-hearted.  You may think your efforts are without fruit.  Take heart!   These parables are parables of hope.  Reminders that God works behind the scenes.  The end results, as well as the beginning, are God’s doing and not our own! 

 May you each let the vision of the littlest seed of all, the mustard seed. that grows into the “greatest of all shrubs” – inspire and inform your efforts today. May it push us to continue to do God’s will of pursuing peace and justice and kindness.   Small beginnings can yield great outcomes!  Amen.

 

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[1]  Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3.  Wendy Farley.   P 140.
[2] William Hendricksen, Commentary on Matthew
[3] Cf. J. D. Crossan, “The Seed Parables of Jesus,” Journal of Biblical Literature 92 (June 1973): 266.  He says the parable is an image of “resolute and prudent action.”  Cf. also Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:850.

A Lame Man

Rev. Debbie Cato
Acts 3:1-26
Fairfield Community Church
June 9, 2024 

Let us pray:  Loving God.  Open up our minds and our hearts to hear your word.  Help us to understand what you want us to know and then live our lives in that way.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

A Lame Man

 

Acts is probably the book in the Bible that reads most like a story.  You need to have the information from prior chapters before you read further into Acts.  The chapters build on each other.  To start his story, Luke recounts the promise of the Holy Spirit, the ascension of Christ and the replacement of Judas – so that there continues to be 12 disciples.  They choose Matthias by the way.   

On Pentecost Sunday, we began chapter 2 and were reminded of how the Holy Spirit came down that first Pentecost.  We were reminded how she arrived – with a vicious wind and tongues of fire.  We were reminded that she empowered the disciples – these men from Galilee – to speak in different languages so that everyone present could hear and understand the Good News.

Last week we finished chapter 2 , reading how that first group of believers who were converted and baptized grew by 3,000 people after Peter preaches the first sermon.  We read how that first church spent time together, they shared what they had, they broke bread, and they continued to praise God and listen to the apostle’s teachings.  We talked about how filled with the awe of God everyone was, and how we should feel the same today.

As John Stott says in his commentary on Acts, “Luke has painted an idyllic picture of the early Christian community in Jerusalem.  Its members, having received forgiveness and the Holy Spirit, were conscientious in their learning from the apostles, their worship of God, their care of one another and their witness to those as yet, outside their fellowship.  Everything was sweetness and light.  Love, joy, and peace reigned.  Commissioned by Christ and empowered by his Spirit, they stood on the threshold of the great missionary adventure which Luke is going to describe.  The good ship Christ-church was ready to catch the wind of the Spirit and to set sail on her voyage of spiritual conquest.  But almost immediately a perilous storm blew up, a storm of such ferocity that the church’s very existence was threatened.”[1]

We see that shift beginning already in chapter 3 – Peter heals a crippled beggar.  The shift happens because Peter performed this miracle.  This man, this lame beggar, had a congenital disability – he was born unable to walk.  In chapter 4, we learn he was over 40 years old, and he was so severely disabled that he had to be carried and put every day by the temple gate to beg from those going into the temple courts.  He begged for money to care for himself.

Peter and John were about to enter the temple when the man stopped them and asked them for money.  The apostles stopped and looked straight at him.  (I imagine most people pretended they didn’t see him.)  Looking straight at him, Peter gave him two commands.  First, “Look at us!”  So naturally, the man, whose eyes were normally downward, looked up at them, expecting that they were going to give him some money.  But then Peter gave him the second command.  “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  (Remember, this man was forty years old and had never been able to walk.)

Peter does not stand back and watch the man struggle to his feet; he leans forward and “taking him by the right hand, he helped him up.” Peter helped him up with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Instantly – it didn’t take any time.  Instantly, the man’s feet and ankles became strong – so strong and agile that he jumped to his feet and began to walk.  Can you imagine what that would have been like?  This was the first time in his life he had walked!  The man follows the apostles into the temple courts, all the time walking and jumping, and praising God.”  A crowd gathers because everyone recognizes him as the same man who for decades, sat outside the temple and begged.  Verse 10 tells us that ‘they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”  

 Peter seizes the opportunity to preach.  This was his second sermon. After all – a crowd had gathered.  Peter redirects their gaze from he and John who were getting all the credit, to Jesus by whose powerful name the miracle took place.  “It wasn’t us!” he says.  It was through the power of Christ given to us by his Holy Spirit that this man is healed. 

Peter is bold.  He is outspoken describing the dishonor which the inhabitants of Jerusalem had shown Jesus. 

1.      You handed him over to be killed, he says.

2.     You disowned him before Pilate.

3.     You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released rather than Jesus – who was innocent, Peter proclaims.

4.     You killed the author of life. 

But God reversed their four-fold rejection of Jesus by raising him from the dead. He and John were witnesses,[2] he told them.

So – Peter says, it is by faith in the name of Jesus that this man whom you see and know was made strong.  It wasn’t me or John who healed this man.  It was Jesus the Christ.

Notice how Christ-centered Peter’s sermon is.  He directed the crowd’s attention away from both the healed man and the apostles, to Christ, whom people disowned by killing him.  But God was vindicated by raising him, and whose name, having been taken hold of by faith, was strong enough to completely heal the man.   Throughout his speech, Peter gives Jesus four different significant titles – “Jesus Christ of Nazareth,” “the Holy and Righteous One,” the prophet foretold by Moses,” and Servant and Christ, Holy One and source of life” 

Peter truly exalted the name of Jesus and he ends his sermon by challenging his audience – “fellow Israelites”  - with the need for and the blessings of repentance.  “I know you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders,” Peter tells them.  You didn’t know any better – Peter says.  But now you do.  “Repent and turn to God.”  There are huge benefits if you do this.  There are the Christ-centered promises of total forgiveness, spiritual refreshment, and universal restoration as foretold in the Old Testament when you repent and believe.

 You might be surprised (or not) to learn that Peter’s bold speech in the temple after healing the lame beggar, stirs up the Sanhedrin. (Read the first 22 verses of chapter 4 to learn the details).  The wealthy aristocrats of the Jews are not happy.  Peter and John will have repercussions for speaking out – and John was just a spectator! 

Again, we are reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit.  We think those miracles are past.  We think miracles of healing were just during Bible times.  They are just for stories like the one we read today.  But I often wonder – what if we believed in the power of the Holy Spirit as strongly as those people at the first Pentecost?  What if we truly believed – deep within our hearts the promises Christ made? What if we really believed that the Holy Spirit changed us, that it gave us power and strength and hope?

See I think we aren’t as changed by the Spirit, by the knowledge that the Holy Spirit lives in us.  I think we don’t believe the power extends to us today because we don’t have to.  We don’t have to believe.  We can rely on ourselves for what we need.  We have our jobs and our checking accounts, our  cupboards are full of food to eat, we have all the toys we accumulate, we have all our stuff.  We have more than we need. We are all affluent even though we may not feel we are.  We have been raised to be self-sufficient, to be independent.  To take care of ourselves.  We have control.   Maybe I’m just speaking for myself, but I don’t think we believe we need God in our lives as much as the people during Peter’s time believed. 

We can continue to rely on ourselves, on the stuff we have and the things we know.  But the world is crumbling around us.  Our government is imploding. Housing is in a crisis and more and more hardworking families and individuals are finding themselves homeless because they can’t even afford to rent.  More and more hardworking families are experiencing food instability for the first time – they can’t afford to feed their families without help from foodbanks.  Our medical system, I believe thanks to insurance companies, is broken and good doctors and good nurses are retiring early.  A medical emergency is a financial burden for the best of us.  It doesn’t matter what your politics are – you have to admit things are not as good as we like to think.  This is where self-sufficiency and independence have brought us. 

I propose that we need the Holy Spirit.  We need to believe like we’ve never believed before that we need the Holy Spirit and the Spirit makes a difference.  We need the promises of total forgiveness, spiritual refreshment, and universal restoration just as much today as the crowd listening to Peter that day.  I propose we all need healing just like that 40-year-old lame beggar so many years ago. 

Like the song goes, “Come Holy Spirit, fall on me now.  We need your anointing, come in your power.” [3]   Amen.

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[1] The Message of Acts.  John W. Stott.  InterVarsity Press.  Downers Grove, IL.  2020.  P. 70.
[2] The Message of Acts.  John W. Stott.  InterVarsity Press.  Downers Grove, IL.  2020.  P. 74..
[3] Song lyric “Come Holy Spirit.”  Released in 2015.  Kids Praise 2003 by Spring Harvest.